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{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{PAGENAME}}: history, specs, pictures}} | {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{PAGENAME}} Dominator: history, specs, pictures}} | ||
{{Motorcycle | {{Motorcycle | ||
|name = Honda NX250 | |name = Honda NX250 | ||
|photo = 1988-Honda-NX250-Blue-7774-0.jpg | |photo = 1988-Honda-NX250-Blue-7774-0.jpg | ||
|aka = | |aka = Dominator 250, NX250 Dominator | ||
|manufacturer = Honda | |manufacturer = Honda | ||
|parent_company = | |parent_company = | ||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
|predecessor = | |predecessor = | ||
|successor = | |successor = | ||
|class = Dual | |class = Dual purpose | ||
|engine = single cylinder, four-stroke | |engine = single cylinder, four-stroke, DOHC, 4 [[valve]] per cylinder | ||
|bore_stroke = 70.0mm x 64.8mm | |bore_stroke = 70.0mm x 64.8mm | ||
|compression = | |compression = 11.0:1 | ||
|top_speed = 80 mph (128 km/h) | |top_speed = 80 mph (128 km/h) | ||
|power = 23.07 HP (17.2 KW) @ 8000RPM | |power = 23.07 HP (17.2 KW) @ 8000RPM | ||
|torque = 16.67 ft/lbs (22.6 Nm) @ 7000RPM | |torque = 16.67 ft/lbs (22.6 Nm) @ 7000RPM | ||
|fuel_system = | |fuel_system = | ||
|ignition = | |ignition = CDI | ||
|spark_plug ={{sparkplug|NGK CR9EH-9}} `88-90<ref name="wps_street_2019">{{cite book|title=2019 Western Power Sports Catalog|publisher=[https://www.wps-inc.com/catalogs Western Power Sports]|date=2019}}</ref> | |spark_plug ={{sparkplug|NGK CR9EH-9}} `88-90<ref name="wps_street_2019">{{cite book|title=2019 Western Power Sports Catalog|publisher=[https://www.wps-inc.com/catalogs Western Power Sports]|date=2019}}</ref> | ||
|battery ={{battery|YUASA YTX7L-BS}} `88-90<ref name="wps_street_2019">{{cite book|title=2019 Western Power Sports Catalog|publisher=[https://www.wps-inc.com/catalogs Western Power Sports]|date=2019}}</ref> | |battery ={{battery|YUASA YTX7L-BS}} `88-90<ref name="wps_street_2019">{{cite book|title=2019 Western Power Sports Catalog|publisher=[https://www.wps-inc.com/catalogs Western Power Sports]|date=2019}}</ref> | ||
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The NX250'90 was sold in 1990 in just Ross White. The handlebars, fork legs, and frame were white. The [[fairing]] stripes were blue and green. The engine was a 249cc 4-stroke liquid-cooled [[DOHC]], 4-valve single cylinder with a 6-speed transmission. The serial number began JH2MD210*LK200002 | The NX250'90 was sold in 1990 in just Ross White. The handlebars, fork legs, and frame were white. The [[fairing]] stripes were blue and green. The engine was a 249cc 4-stroke liquid-cooled [[DOHC]], 4-valve single cylinder with a 6-speed transmission. The serial number began JH2MD210*LK200002 | ||
== Photos == | |||
<gallery mode='packed-hover'> | |||
File:Honda-NX250-92.jpg|600px|Honda NX250 Dominator | |||
File:Honda-NX250-92--1.jpg|600px|Honda NX250 Dominator | |||
</gallery> | |||
== Overview == | |||
DOMINATOR MINOR HAS QUITE a reputation to live up to. Big bro is still | |||
sitting pretty at the top of the big single chart, and identity sharing is a | |||
risky business. How many times do you hear the sharp intake of breath followed | |||
by, "oooh, you should have got the big one"? | |||
Sportsters, Zephyrs and ZZ-Rs all benefit from extra cubes; it's only in the | |||
trailie world that the reverse holds true. But can a bike giving away 400cc to | |||
the supremely successful Dominator cut it in the metropolis? | |||
The engine isn't lifted from the highly-rated, but strictly off-road, XR250; | |||
it's a watercooled, electric-started jobbie which is alto-getheranore suited to | |||
the big smoke. Kickstarting little singles isn't hard, but it's certainly boring | |||
if you just want to get home. And tootling through traffic isn't the best | |||
environment for small air-cooled engines. The radiator is very tidily hidden | |||
under the Alienesque snout (and is such a good fit it makes me wonder whether | |||
water-cooling's on the cards for the biggy). | |||
The NX leaps away from the lights with cheerful abandon thanks to reasonable, | |||
if slightly stuttery, low-down tug which turns into a most unsingular zip. The | |||
ratios are more carefully thought out than the streetwise trailie norm and keep | |||
the motor spinning at about the right speed for further progress (ie 4500rpm and | |||
above). The redline is set at 8000 but doesn't need chasing too hard; tangible | |||
power sits between five and seven thou and'll keep you ahead of the taxis. | |||
Work up an enthusiasm with gas and gearbox and 70mph turns up before you'd | |||
imagine. There isn't too much more on offer without a goodly run up, but since | |||
bigger trailies spend forever getting beyond 80 this is no criticism. | |||
So up to this point everything's going fine. We like the engine. There are | |||
good things to come about the rest of the bike. However, in between the engine | |||
and the rest of the bike is the paragraph marked "gearbox". I honestly can't | |||
remember a bloody thing about the gearbox. Six speed? My dictaphone says so. It | |||
also says, in a very cross voice, that the gearbox is "shit". I have no idea | |||
why. Maybe it didn't work. I'm sorry, I really can't remember. You'll just have | |||
to take it from my dictaphone that the NX250 gearbox is, for reason or reasons | |||
unknown, shit. | |||
Otherwise the bike works perfectly well, with the suspension earning an | |||
honourable mention for being so fiendishly good at absorbing London. The MX-like | |||
lightweight disc is grabbed smartly by the twin-pot caliper; used with the drum | |||
rear brake (wot dat?) the anorexic NX pulls up suspiciously quickly. | |||
Suspiciously? Trail tires aren't supposed to let you brake like that, but the | |||
Dunlop Trailmaxes must be special on this bike because they're in 19 and 16in | |||
sizes. So Dunlop know darned well they're never going off road and can pour some | |||
more glue into the mould. | |||
That little front wheel, coupled with steep (25.5°) rake and 87mm of trail, | |||
lets the NX jink like a startled rabbit if it needs to. Low speed stability is | |||
helped by chopping off the lower frame rails and using the engine as a stressed | |||
member, thus keeping the centre of gravity as low as it'll go. Combine all that | |||
with a dry weight of 2661b, and turning around on full lock whilst hopping up a | |||
kerb holding an ice cream becomes a way of life for the dedicated NX commuter. | |||
That's the thing about this bike. Everything is easy. Even getting on it, | |||
which isn't a forte usually associated with ten inches of ground clearance, is | |||
ridiculously simple because somehow Honda sneaked the design past the off-road | |||
division without them writing "37in" in the seat height box. Unfortunately a | |||
slighted member of the dirt squad made it past the urbanites and wrote "make it | |||
extremely uncomfortable" by the seat spec, which the dutiful Japs achieved with | |||
ease. | |||
Nerdy | |||
Peeping closely at the NX250 rewards with cleverness and oddness in equal | |||
measure. For every nice touch like the half-a-Domi-system silencer, there's a | |||
nerdy plastic bash plate. To counter cunning design like the 24,000 mile valve | |||
check interval there's a nine litre petrol tank to make sure you stop every 70 | |||
of those miles. The plastic-coated rack, easy-access fuse box and trick | |||
lightweight battery sit at odds with the cheapo fasteners, flimsy gear-shifter | |||
and gawky mirrors. | |||
But then, the NX250 is primarily aimed at the Italian market, and they aren't | |||
happy unless a couple of bits fall off. It's clear why the lovable Mediterranean | |||
buys this bike; it's utterly suited to chuffing around their hideously congested | |||
cities without overheating or shattering the rider's bone structure. | |||
Over here in dismal Britain the nearest thing to it is the far more lunatic | |||
TDR250. The NX doesn't deliver anything like the fun factor, but it's a lot more | |||
practical. Since Yamaha aren't making TDRs anymore, you'd think there was a gap | |||
in the market but Honda say no. | |||
Which is where R. A.P steps in. As with an increasing number of importers, | |||
R.A.P has service manuals and commonly used parts for all imported bikes, and | |||
claims a four day delivery time for bigger items. | |||
Maybe Honda are right not to bring in the NX250. Commuters are famously | |||
staid, which is why we have such aesthetic delights as the GN250 and CB Two | |||
Fifty. It would probably be another great non-seller alongside the Transalps of | |||
our time. Shame that, because with its effortlessness and style it has to be one | |||
of the best city bikes around. Against the Dominator? In town, no contest. The | |||
lightweight takes it. | |||
== Specifications== | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
!Make Model | |||
|Honda NX 250 Dominator | |||
|- | |||
!Year | |||
|1991 | |||
|- | |||
!Engine Type | |||
|Four stroke, single cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve per cylinder | |||
|- | |||
!Displacement | |||
|239 cc / 14.6 cu-in | |||
|- | |||
!Bore X Stroke | |||
|68.5 x 64.8 mm | |||
|- | |||
!Cooling System | |||
|Liquid cooled | |||
|- | |||
!Compression | |||
|11.0:1 | |||
|- | |||
!Induction | |||
|Carburetor | |||
|- | |||
!Ignition | |||
|CDI | |||
|- | |||
!Starting | |||
|Electric | |||
|- | |||
!Max Power | |||
|22.7 hp / 17 kW @ 8000 rpm | |||
|- | |||
!Max Torque | |||
|22 Nm / 16.2 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm | |||
|- | |||
!Transmission | |||
|6 Speed | |||
|- | |||
!Final Drive | |||
|Chain | |||
|- | |||
!Front Suspension | |||
|37 mm Telescopic forks | |||
|- | |||
!Front Wheel Travel | |||
|220 mm / 8.7 in | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Suspension | |||
|Pro-Link. Swingarm | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Wheel Travel | |||
|200 mm / 7.8 in | |||
|- | |||
!Front Brakes | |||
|Single disc | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Brakes | |||
|Drum | |||
|- | |||
!Front Tire | |||
|100/90-19 | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Tire | |||
|120/90-16 | |||
|- | |||
!Dimensions | |||
|Length 2040 mm / 80 in Width 805 mm / 31.7 in Height 1115 mm / 43.9 in | |||
|- | |||
!Wheelbase | |||
|1350 mm / 53 in | |||
|- | |||
!Seat Height | |||
|820 mm / 32 in | |||
|- | |||
!Dry Weight | |||
|123 kg / 271 lbs | |||
|- | |||
!Fuel Capacity | |||
|9 Liters / 2.4 US gal | |||
|- | |||
!Related Links | |||
|nx250.de | |||
|- | |||
!Road Test | |||
|Moto Verte | |||
|} | |||
== External Links == | |||
* https://www.nx250.de/typenkunde.html | |||